Glass beaker with snake-thread decoration

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Colorless with pale green tinge; trails in same color. Tall beaker or goblet, with side tapering downwards and curving in at base; stem consists of a solid, slightly convex knob; broad, shallow foot, made from a separate gather is concave, with rounded, thickened edge, and small central pontil scar. On body, three vertical abstract floral sprays, comprising stems and broad, down-turned leaves, applied as separate trails, all flattened and decorated with crisscross patterns, and one small additional spray near bottom on one side. Broken and repaired, with some weathered broken edges; all of rim and much of body missing, but foot intact; a few bubbles; slight dulling and patches of brilliant iridescent weathering.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than thirty thousand works ranging in date from the Neolithic period (ca. 4500 B.C.) to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312. It includes the art of many cultures and is among the most comprehensive in North America. The geographic regions represented are Greece and Italy, but not as delimited by modern political frontiers: Greek colonies were established around the Mediterranean basin and on the shores of the Black Sea, and Cyprus became increasingly Hellenized. For Roman art, the geographical limits coincide with the expansion of the Roman Empire. The department also exhibits the art of prehistoric Greece (Helladic, Cycladic, and Minoan) and pre-Roman art of Italic peoples, notably the Etruscans.

Metropolitan Museum of Art